Southern California is bracing for what could be an unprecedented heat wave, according to experts in the field.

Colin McCarthy, a prominent weather analyst known for tracking extreme weather patterns globally, has highlighted the impending heat wave’s severity on social media. “The extent of the heat wave expected to hit California and the broader Western U.S. is difficult to overstate,” he shared on X. He further noted that “this ranks among the most extraordinary heat waves the U.S. has ever experienced.”

In the Mojave Desert, including the Coachella Valley, temperatures are anticipated to exceed 105°F, potentially breaking historical records for the month of March.

In Los Angeles, residents could face four consecutive days with temperatures soaring above 95°F within the upcoming week, with a realistic possibility of reaching 100°F. The forecast predicts warm and mostly sunny conditions to persist over the next several days.

The mercury is set to rise from the mid-80s on Sunday to the upper 80s by Monday, peaking in the mid-90s on Tuesday, marking a significant temperature surge for the region.

Temperatures will climb from the mid-80s on Sunday to the upper 80s on Monday before peaking in the mid-90s on Tuesday.

Sunny conditions are expected to continue through Wednesday and Thursday, with highs around the low 90s.

Rain chances remain very low throughout the week, and overnight lows will stay in the upper 50s to low 60s. This comes after last week saw temperatures more than 20–30 degrees higher than usual.

Palm Springs is forecast to hit 111°F next Friday, McCarthy warned, adding it would break the U.S. record high for the month of March by three degrees.

“It would also be seven degrees warmer than any other March day Palm Springs has ever seen,” he added.

McCarthy said that farther south in the Coachella Valley, the town of Thermal is forecast to hit 113°F — a temperature that would tie the hottest April reading ever recorded in the United States.

What makes the forecast even more unusual, he noted, is that it would occur on March 20, not in April. Thermal’s hottest March temperature on record is 103°F, meaning the forecast would exceed the monthly record by 10 degrees — something McCarthy said is virtually unheard of.

Even San Francisco, a city notoriously resistant to extreme heat, could approach 90°F early next week and break its March heat record of 89°F.

“I could go on and on with statistics about how absurd this event is, but this heatwave is the word ‘unprecedented’ at its most literal,” he noted.

Last week, the National Weather Service warned of drastic and record-high temperatures across Southern California.

The NWS advised that most residents are at high risk for heat-related illness this week and recommended limiting strenuous outdoor activities between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., staying hydrated, taking frequent breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas, and checking on children, the elderly, and pets.

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